


Leslie Knope and the Medallion of Persephone

by bookworm03



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ancient Greece, Archeologist AU, F/M, Greek Mythology minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:29:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8987635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm03/pseuds/bookworm03
Summary: Dr. Leslie Knope is aching to be the first person to unearth an ancient artefact in thousands of years and Dr. Ben Wyatt wants to beat her to it.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [c00kie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/c00kie/gifts).



> Merry Christmas my darling, c00kie!! I love you dearly and hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. 
> 
> This is just a fun little idea I came up with a few weeks ago. It's definitely different but I hope people find it entertaining! Thank you in advance for all your comments and kudos, you guys are the best!

It was hot.

You would think she’d be used to it by now, the sun beating down on the back of her neck, making Leslie’s skin feel tight and tense, but no. She adjusted her hat (a sensible sun hat for digs, being an archeologist was nothing like Indiana Jones). They were in Mycenae and had gotten there the night before, rumbling along the dusty road and managing not to pop a tire on the way. Leslie had been here before, but it had been at least two years. Wyatt’s team always came to Mycenae and they always beat her group to the punch.

Not this time though.

This time, Leslie was going to uncover something amazing and groundbreaking before Wyatt’s lazy ass even made an appearance. She didn’t get four hours of sleep a night to lose to some condescending jerkface from Harvard.

There was something here, something that had been missed the last time. Her archeological spidey senses were tingling and her fingers twitched with urgency. The dust baking into her skin, the sand in her eyes, the sweat marks on the front of her shirt would all be worth it once they uncovered what had been found.

Some innocuous hikers had stumbled across a thin gold chain six days earlier. She’d been in her department head’s office that same hour, demanding funds to send them to Greece. Wyatt’s awful team had more money and more resources and would have no issue securing the grant money, but Leslie wasn’t going to let him win. Not this time.

Indiana needed her.

Hell, her country needed her.

The medallion,  _ Persephone’s medallion _ was here. It had been here for thousands of years and Dr. Leslie Knope of Indiana University was going to be the person to unearth it.

Not stupid Professor Emeritus, Dr. Ben Wyatt.

Leslie glanced over at the rest of her team in time to see Andy with his pasty white belly in full view as he attempted to yank his t-shirt over his head. His wife, April, smacked her gum (which Leslie already told her was not to get near any of the roped off areas) and leaned back on her elbows. That was how Leslie had gotten the money for her excursion. Andy and April had been the young couple who had stumbled upon the chain and the university had asked Leslie to let them participate in the dig to “engage the public”.

“HEY LESLIE I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!” Andy called. Leslie stood slowly and made her way over to where they were. April shook her head quickly behind Andy’s back.

“Andy, that’s just another - ”

“Oh, dang it, my bad, it’s a rock.”

So far, Andy had found eight rocks.

Leslie sighed, trudging back to the area she’d been working in and picked up her brush, pushing away a few more pieces of dirt. The scan had found something small and round in this very spot and Leslie could feel the outline under her fingers now. Her breath hitched as her fingers brushed the smooth surface…

“Dr. Knope” Leslie heard as a shadow was cast over her work area. She sat back on her heels and forced the scowl off her face.

“Wyatt.”

His lips curved into a cocky smirk.

“Nice to see you made it here this century.”

“Not nice to see you made it here at all,” Leslie fired back. “I heard they were giving you a hard time about funding, since your last few digs were such a bust.”

Behind his sunglasses, Leslie watched Ben Wyatt’s eyebrows raise. His light cotton shirt caught the breeze, making the fabric hug his narrow frame. Leslie looked at the ground instead of the outline of his chest and bony shoulders.

“Well, nobody bats a thousand, do they? Some people don’t even break three hundred.”

He meant Leslie and she should punch him for that. She almost did, but then he was leaning over her area and frowning. Leslie yelped when a large hand darted out to the precious object she’d been half a second away from unearthing - ”

“It’s a piece of volcanic rock” he removed the black igneous stone, remarkably smooth, all things considered. But it was no medallion. Leslie’s heart sank, but she hoped her face didn’t show it as Ben studied the rock more carefully.

“Can I have this?”

She almost said no just to irritate him, but her mind was already elsewhere, wondering if the images for the cavern a few hundred meters away were ready yet.

“Doesn’t matter to me” Leslie popped up like she hadn’t felt closer to Persephone and the women of Ancient Greece than she ever had in her entire life. “I’ve got work to do, Benjamin.”

She ignored the way he grinned as she strolled off to the tents.

*****

They ate hot dogs and beans for dinner. Ben picked at his food while the rest of their team devoured it. Leslie’s crew came over to join in and soon the bad scotch and gin were being passed around and everyone was chatting amicably.

Except Leslie. Leslie was tired, Ben could see it on her face. He had worked around her enough over the last six years to know when she was feeling run down. She was disheartened after coming up empty again today. Digs could take weeks to be productive and Leslie knew that, but she was so amped up she fell really hard when the day was a bust.

He’d say something to her, about how they’ll find something eventually...but she would just reply she hopes he finds nothing ever again. And Ben would roll his eyes at how childish she was being and say something about how humanity benefits when anyone finds an artefact; it was not about winning.

Except it was totally about winning.

And he’d been winning a lot lately, especially against Leslie. He understood her frustration.

So Ben said nothing, as usual. He listened to everyone else laughing and joking around and took a swig of gin.

The booze had gone to his head just a little bit by the time Ben retired to his tent. It had been a busy day and tomorrow would be even worse. The sun had set a long time ago, a brilliant combination of reds and pinks over the sand. The dry heat would mean Ben would sleep like a log. He couldn’t wait to crawl onto his cot.

A light rapping at his tent flap made Ben turn. He knew as soon as he saw the outline it was her. Ben swallowed as he moved across the ground to open it. Leslie stood there, down to a white tank top smeared with dirt. Her hair was still in a messy ponytail and her blue eyes were large.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I came…” she swallowed hard. “Everyone’s still drinking.”

Ben dragged Leslie inside, crushing his lips against hers and swallowing the soft moan that escaped her throat. Leslie spun around to zip the tent shut as Ben’s hands wormed their way up her shirt. When he kissed again, her tongue filled his mouth and it was Ben’s turn to moan. He fell backwards, landing on the cot as Leslie climbed on top of him. She bit down on his neck, causing Ben to growl and flip her beneath him. He yanked her pants and panties off in one swift motion and got to the ground on his knees, her ass hanging half off the thin mattress.

“Ben” she hissed. “I didn’t shower - ”

“Don’t care” his teeth flashed against her pale thigh. Her legs were covered in a light blond fuzz and her curls were longer than they’d been the last time Ben had done this, but he dove in with single minded focus. He could catalogue the differences between Leslie six months ago and Leslie now later.

Right now he was busy.

After two minutes, his head was filled with nothing but her loud moans.

The rest of the team might hear them, but Ben couldn’t care less. It had been six months, after all.

*****

She would be sore tomorrow and it would be worth it. She needed that. After shitty days at work, days where finding anything seemed completely and totally impossible, she needed Ben for that. Because Ben was, well, really really really  _ good _ at that. He cleared out the cobwebs and made parts of her skin burn from his teeth.

Leslie assumed he got something out of it too, besides just sex. Surely there was a much less problematic, complicated woman he could be sleeping with if all he cared about was sex. It had started so innocuously, they’d been trading barbs (as usual) at a symposium dinner and the next thing Leslie knew he was laying into her against her hotel room door.

They never made it to the bed, at least not for round one.

It was mostly on dig sites now, when they were both tired and a little inebriated after dinner and needing some sort of release. Sex with Ben was cathartic. When it was over Leslie felt everything and nothing all at once.

“We could team up, you know” Ben suggested, twirling a curl around his long finger. “Share resources, trade information. We’d find the medallion in half the time and get the hell out of here before summer hits.”

It did sound tempting.

“What would we do with the medallion afterwards?”

Ben shot her a look and Leslie knew what that meant. Peabody, Harvard’s museum. It was world renowned and already had an extensive collection. Ben would want it to go to Peabody.

“Hell no” she sat up and started searching for her bra. “Over my dead body.”

“Leslie, where will more people see it? Think about it - ”

“More people will come to Indiana if we have it there! We have exhibits on the ancient world and I have just as much a right to bring that home to my faculty as you do to yours.”

“Leslie” Ben touched her bare shoulder. “People will go to Harvard because it’s Harvard. Your name would still be on the plaque - ”

“Indiana or bust, Wyatt. That’s my final offer.”

Ben sighed and flopped back on his coat as Leslie tried to separate her panties from her slacks.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve been gone too long, they’ll notice.”

“Just sleep here” Ben yawned. “Worry about it in the morning.”

“Ben, no, it’ll be a scandal.”

He shrugged and rolled over. Ben was snoring by the time Leslie left the tent.

She woke at dawn and went to work right away. It was a little cooler than the day before so she made good time, chipping away chunks of hardened dirt before moving onto the next area. Something about this area, the way the ground dipped in the shadow of the cavern and its arches made Leslie take notice.

It was here. It had to be here.

At noon, someone (she can’t remember who) brought her a bottle of water.

At 6PM the sky started to darken and she was told it was time for dinner.

At 8PM, when the stars were starting to appear and the temperature had dropped significantly a blanket was draped around her shoulders.

“This is dumb” April declared. “You can keep up your dumb digging tomorrow.”

Leslie wanted to argue, but she really was so, so tired and her knees were killing her.

At 7AM Ben walked into her tent. He asked if she was alright and they ended up having sex, Leslie’s cries muffled into her pillow as he bent her over her bed.

At 8AM she started digging again.

*****

Ben tried to ignore Leslie, he really did. She seemed so dead set on that one spot, like she held secret information no one else was privy to. When she’d turned in on the first night he’d had the area scanned and they found nothing, nothing to suggest the medallion was anywhere near the pillars. Sure, symbolically it may have been laid to rest there, but the very ground they stood on was unrecognizable from what it had been eons ago.

He moved his team to a much more promising site, on the other side of the cavern, tucked into a hill where the plates would have shifted the ground. His ten workers got busy and Ben surveyed, examining specimens they extracted as they went. They found a tiny blue jewel of unknown origin and put it aside for sampling.

And Leslie was still working in the same damn spot.

He tried to tell her to give it up. All signs pointed to that area being empty. Leslie was adamant though. She said she just…  _ felt it _ .

Her eyes had glazed over as if she was seeing passed Ben, into another universe. After a second she snapped back to reality, adjusted her hat and kept digging.

“I absolutely should not be telling you this, but...there’s no reason to believe anything’s there, Leslie. You’re wasting your time - ”

“I’m not!” she sprang up from the bed, pale breasts jiggling in the moonlight as she did. “I’m not, I can feel it.”

“It’s science, Leslie. Science says nothing is there.”

“And sometimes you have to go with your gut,  _ Mr. Harvard _ .”

Ben snorted, pinching her waist until she squeaked. There’s no way the entire site didn’t know he was fucking her. Every minute he wasn’t digging or sleeping he was fucking her. Or at least it felt that way.

“If you say so.”

Four days into her dig her efforts paid off.

She found it. She found the goddamn Medallion of Persephone. The legend said it was gifted from Zeus to Demeter, who then bestowed it upon her daughter. Persephone was said to have left it to the people of Athens before Hades stole her to the Underworld. It was to be small, round and gold, littered with sapphires and emeralds. It was covered in dust when Leslie unearthed it, but five minutes into her meticulous cleaning Ben realized she had what they’d all come to look for.

She’d been right.

For some reason, he felt a flicker of pride on Leslie’s behalf. It was always disappointing to leave empty handed, but Leslie’s excitement was contagious. Both teams hugged her and Ben dragged her back to his tent when everyone else was good and liquored up.

They popped champagne he’d been saving for when he found the medallion himself.

“Why are we drinking this?” Leslie arched an eyebrow. “You lost, remember?”

Oh, she’d never let him forget that.

He kissed her hard enough he tasted blood on her chapped lips and a long while later they fell asleep in the middle of his tiny cot.

It wasn’t until dawn that all hell broke loose.

*****

Leslie awoke with a start, head fuzzy from all the champagne she’d shared with Ben in his tent. She was naked and the sun had barely broken the horizon. Ben was up, pulling a shirt over his head and staring out the flaps as he did.

“What’s - ” he held up a hand to silence her and Leslie frowned.

“Where’s the medallion?”

Leslie’s eyes widened. What sort of Harvard trickery was this?

“Why do you need - ”

“We need the medallion, where is it?”

Leslie shot Ben a suspicious look, pulling a piece of wrapped and tied cloth out of her canvas bag on the floor. As if she was letting the medallion off her person. Ben seemed to almost laughed, but then his eyes were back on the flap.

“Get dressed, fast.”

It didn’t feel like he was messing with her. It felt like it was time to get dressed. Leslie yanked on her pants, shoving the medallion back in her pocket and pulled on her bra and tank top. Ben handed her a jacket draped over a small table in the corner and she slipped into it.

“Ben, what is going on?”

He motioned her forward. Leslie crept up to the flap and once she’d taken a few steps she could heard sharp voices. Three men, all in dark black suits and sunglasses stood in the middle of a semi-circle formed by everyone else at the site.

“Where’s the medallion?”

“Buddy” Andy stepped up. “I told you, Leslie’s already gone. She’s taking it back to Indiana because she’s super awesome -”

“Where’s Wyatt?”

“Probably crying into his pillow because Leslie beat him” April quipped. The rest of the team exchanged a look and Ben’s large hand muffled Leslie’s squeak when the unknown man produced a gun.

“Leslie, we have to go.”

“What about - ”

“Do you have everything? Passport? Everything?” Ben spun around, brown eyes narrowed. Leslie nodded quickly and he took her hand instead.

“The truck’s around back. We gotta go now.”

“Who - ”

“No idea.”

They slipped out the back flap of the tent and darted around the back of the cavern, right in front of Leslie’s work area. Right in front of where the medallion had been found. She wanted to go back and make sure the rest of the team was okay, but Ben would not let her. Ben’s hand was gripping hers so tightly he was cutting off circulation. She didn’t make a sound as they climbed into Ben’s truck and he fumbled for the keys under the seat.

Leslie swore she heard the loud  _ pop _ of a pistol when the ignition finally started and Ben floored it towards the horizon.

*****

“Who the hell are they!” Leslie shouted, shrill now. He was surprised she’d managed to stay quiet for that long, actually, but Leslie was always proving people (him) underestimated her. Ben glanced behind them for the eighth time in ten minutes or so and steered onto the main highway.

“I don’t know” he sighed. “Dealers, probably. You know they’re always looking for this kind of stuff to sell collectors for serious bank.”

“It belongs in a museum!”

Ben clamped down on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Easy there, Indy.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you just make an Indiana Jones reference?”

“You did, I just pointed it out.”

Leslie cracked a little smile and then slumped back in her seat.

“They had guns, Ben.”

He winced. “Yeah.”

“We shouldn’t have left them.”

“They wanted the medallion, not to kill anybody. Once they know for sure we’re gone they’ll…”

Leslie’s blue eyes bulged in their sockets as they both finished the sentence in their mind.

Once the dealers knew for sure they were gone they’d be after them.

“We need to get this to the university. Fast, Ben.”

“Yeah, we do."

“They cannot have this medallion.”

“They definitely can’t.”

“So you’ll help me take it to Indiana?”

“It should go to Peabody, Leslie. Your name would be on it - ”

“Indiana or drop me off on the side of the road right now!”

His mouth threatened to curve into a smile. She was cute, too cute. Leslie being cute when she was angry was what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. He reached over and smeared a little dirt into her arm. Leslie pulled a face.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Touching me like that.”

Ben didn’t move his hand.

“I touch you all the time in a lot more ways than that.”

He delighted way too much in the flush creeping up the back of her neck.

“Well, I...you shouldn’t! I have been fraternizing with the enemy!”

“You’re not the enemy” Ben glanced behind them again. “You’re the competition. Those guys are the enemy.”

Leslie exhaled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Your name can be on the plaque when I take it to Indiana. Much smaller than mine, of course. With something like “And Ben Wyatt sort of helped” in really small writing at the bottom.

Ben chuckled, flashing his nails lightly against her flesh. He tried to forget about the way Leslie had done exactly that into the skin of his thighs a few hours early and focused back on the road.

They drove in silence again, but when he missed the turn for Athens Leslie piped up.

“Where are we going?”

“Not Athens. I thought it would be too obvious if people were looking for us. We’ll get a flight out of Thessaloniki. I’ll call one of my contacts and get a plane for us tomorrow morning.”

“Your contact will just  _ send you _ a plane.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you important.”

“That I am, babydoll. What’s it like to be on the road with someone so important?”

“Ugh” Leslie grumbled. “I take it back, you’re not important.”

Ben laughed as he veered west to go around Athens. No point in cutting through the city if someone was trying to find them.

*****

Occasionally, Leslie would be forced to admit that Ben Wyatt was not terrible face-wise. Especially now, with the early morning sun highlighting his scruff and the sharp angles of his face. Ben glanced over at her and licked his lips.

“Are you okay?”

She didn’t know if it was hearing the gunshots or the threat of danger, but all Leslie wanted right now was to pull them over to the side of the road and ride Ben until they both stopped thinking about any of it.

“We’ll stop in Agrinio and get some food...” he trailed off and looked over his shoulder. Leslie did the same and noticed a car coming up behind them, quite fast with a cloud of dirt behind it. As it gained on them, Leslie realized it was a large, black SUV.

Had the men in suits not been driving a large, black SUV?

Not that it was that uncommon of a car.

“Do you think that’s…”

There was another pop and a bullet landed in the dirt, just to the left of their wheels. Leslie shrieked.

“BEN!”

“Fuck! Hold on - ” his foot pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and they were off, zooming around a bend in the road. Leslie clutched at her seat and Ben white knuckled the wheel as he steered them along the perimeter of a cliff.

The SUV was faster and another bullet came flying at them, this one shattering the back window. Ben pushed Leslie head down towards his lap as the glass exploded around them. Thankfully, the shards were small, but Leslie could see blood oozing from the back of Ben’s neck.

“Are you okay?” she cried out. He nodded and gave his head a shake.

“We’ll make it to Patras. It’s only ten clicks away.”

“And then what!”

Ben didn’t answer, probably because he had no idea.

They managed to keep enough of a distance on the car as they reached the city limits and Ben barely took down his speed as they entered Patras. Cars laid on their horns, but Ben paid no attention, swerving between small streets like he was an ex-cop or expert stunt driver or someone in a car chase movie. Leslie shrieked as Ben took another sharp turn, the momentum slamming her into the door.

Leslie wanted to ask Ben where he’d learn to drive like this, but she suspected he wouldn’t have a good answer. She suspected he was just doing everything he could to get them out of this safely.

“They’re trying to kill us!” She blurted out, a wave of dread washing over her. Why else would you shoot at someone’s tires? At their back window. They’d been trying to kill or at least seriously injure them so the car would stop moving and they could collect the medallion for themselves.

What would these people do to Leslie and Ben once they had it?

Leslie didn’t realize they’d lost the assailants until a man in a valet uniform was opening her door.

“Madam” he bowed deeply, his accent thick. “Welcome to the - ”

“Park this somewhere else, right now.” Ben thrust a wad of cash at the valet, who only looked mildly horrified. He definitely gave their vehicle a once over as Ben shouldered his bag and reached for Leslie’s hand. She spun around and watched the valet hop into the car and pull back onto the main road with impressive efficiency. 

“Why do I feel like you’ve done this before?” Leslie murmured. He gave her a wary smile and led them to the concierge. He spoke in Greek, but Leslie caught the gist of what he was saying. He called her his wife and she stepped closer as the concierge shot them a wary look.

He said something about a boat and slid his fingers through hers as the concierge brought out a leaflet of ferry times. He gave her hand a light squeeze as he pointed to the one leaving within the hour to Bari.

Italy.

He yanked Leslie a little too hard and soon they were on the move again.

“Ben” she hissed. “Ben, listen!”

“We have to move quickly.”

“We have to  _ talk _ about this. This is insane.”

He stopped in his tracks and ran a hand over his face.  

“I know.”

“People are trying to  _ kill us _ over this!” she yell-whispered into his ear and a tightness built in the back of her throat. Ben gulped and nodded.

“It’s insane.”

“It is.”

“We should go to the police. We can go to the police now, not to Italy. We need to find out what happened to the rest of our teams.”

She had a sudden, horrible vision of everyone lying face down in a pit, blood pouring out of the backs of their skulls. Leslie shook her head to make the image disappear.

“You’re hurt” she reached up to him. “You need a doctor.”

“I don’t.”

“You do, Ben.”

He sighed as his fingers brushed the back of his skull.

“We have to go to the police. Before we go anywhere, we have to tell the police.”

Ben heaved his shoulders and nodded. “Okay, okay, we’ll go to the police first.”

*****

It took the police station ten minutes to find someone who spoke fluent English to take their statement. Ben kept shifting uncomfortably, but Leslie was already jotting down notes as best she could remember, the medallion bulging in her pocket. Ben hadn’t even gotten a chance to look at it properly. He’d planned on asking her that morning, when she was still naked and on his cot gloating.

Not that he hadn’t done a few things the night before worth gloating about.

A short man with a dark tan finally ushered them into a small room and Leslie launched into their tale. He looked skeptical and asked to see the medallion, which Leslie showed him reluctantly. When he tried to touch it she yanked it away.

“This belongs in evidence, madam.”

“Persephone’s medallion does  _ not _ belong in evidence. Are you insane? We’re taking it to a museum.”

“An American museum” he smacked his lips and the stench of stale coffee and something less pleasant flooded Ben’s nostrils. “Why should America ‘ave what belongs to Greece?”

Leslie’s fingers tightened on the cloth.

“Because Greece didn’t find it. I did, and if it weren’t for me it’d be buried in the dirt right now.”

“Perhaps.”

“Not  _ perhaps _ . It’s fact. I found it, it’s going back to Indiana where people from all over the world can come see it and we can examine it further. If Greece wants in on it they can talk to the university.”

The man licked his lips.

“I’ll be confiscating this into evidence, Ms. Knope - ’’

“Ben - ”

“It’s Dr. Knope” he glared at the officer, emboldened by the way Leslie looked to him for assistance. “And she found it so she’s going to bring it to her department and they can decide what to do with it.”

The officer glared at them, but leaned back.

“And you say men want this? Why? What is it’s value?”

“It’s  _ invaluable _ ” Leslie slammed her empty hand on the table. “It’s Persephone’s medallion, it’s historic. It’s an important part of ancient culture and women in ancient culture and...”

She trailed off, jaw hanging open. Ben frowned and followed her gaze, his blood turning to ice in his veins. The men in suits, they were there, at the police station, plainly visible through the window. The officer rolled his eyes.

“Dr. Knope, I cannot allow you to leave with such an impressive relic without at least consulting someone - ”

“NOW!” Leslie leapt up, kicking the table over and tearing out of the room before the officer could scramble to his feet. Ben yelped, chasing after her and bracing himself to be tackled to the ground before they made it out of the precinct. The sweat on his body was cold and Leslie’s palm felt like fire in his. She pushed out an emergency exit (how she’d found it, Ben had no idea) and an alarm sounded as they raced onto the sidewalk.

“I guess we’re going to Bari” she murmured to him as they darted across the street and down an alley.

*****

The tiny cabin had two small twin beds and Leslie made Ben sit on one as soon as they’d cast off. There’d been no men in suits following them, thank god. She got on her knees and started dabbing his cuts with a cotton swab as he leaned back into her hands.

“This is so insane.”

“Which part?”

“All of it.”

Ben turned around to face her, his brown eyes the warmest Leslie had ever seen them. He covered her hand with his.

“Stop it” she pulled her hand away. Ben lifted an eyebrow.

“Stop what?”

“Being nice. I don’t know how to handle you when you’re not being a jerk trying to make me look bad.”

“You know how to handle me.”

Leslie’s stomach twisted with desire at the way his gazed dropped to her breasts.

“Stoooop.”

“Sorry.” He wasn’t. Leslie could tell from the look on his face.

“I’m going to shower.”

“I thought you were doctoring me up.”

“I’m smelly” her breath hitched as Ben leaned into her arm.

“Alright.”

“I’ll be right back” Leslie announced, standing from the bed and hurrying into the bathroom. When she locked the door she exhaled a shaky breath as the tears built rapidly behind her eyes. Just this morning she’d been in bed with Ben and he’d been her worst nightmare and now he was the only person she could trust right now. A little part of Leslie wondered if all of this was some elaborate ploy for Ben to steal the medallion...but he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t fake being chased by assassins just to steal Persephone’s…

Actually, he was pretty cut throat. Ben would probably totally do that. He was probably going to steal it while she was showering and make a run for it. He probably had an official Harvard speedboat waiting to catch him when he lept into the ocean, Persephone’s medallion clutched between his teeth.

Leslie yanked the door open, naked and dripping with her heart pounding in her chest. Ben was there, snoring softly on top of the blankets, the medallion on the pillow next to him. Leslie went back to the shower, feeling calmer, and finished washing her hair. If this was all an evil ploy for Leslie to lose the medallion, Ben was certainly playing it expertly.

He awoke when Leslie was trying to decide what part of her sweaty, dirty and ripped clothes to put back on. He called her name and she squawked, dropping the towel and then stumbling in an attempt to cover up.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“Don’t look! You’re supposed to be sleeping!”

He smirked. God, why did that do it for her.

“I’ve seen you naked approximately a hundred times.”

She thought back to that first night as she covered herself up again. She thought of the way his fingers had pushed into her hipbones and he’d bit down on her shoulder as he came. She thought of the way he filled her so deeply she could feel it in the base of her spine as she rode him the next morning.

“Well” she wrung the ends of the towel between her fingers. “This is not like that at all, no sir. We are not...we are not doing that. That was a dig site...exception.”

Ben rolled onto his side and stuffed the pillow between his arms.

“Sleep in the towel then” Ben’s eyes raked over her. She tried not to smile. It was a weird circumstance, but it was still nice feeling desired.

“I’m not going to sleep. I was going to do some reading on the medallion and see if there was any other reason these people might be after it.”

Ben sat up, brown hair wild and everywhere. He reached over and tossed his bag at Leslie.

“All my research on it is in there. Go nuts.”

“I have my own research, Benjamin.”

“And we’re pooling resources, Knope.”

She licked her lips. That was true. Ben unwrapped the medallion carefully from the cloth and stared at it intently. Leslie, in a towel, came over and sat beside him again.

“These markings” his fingers brushed over some indents in the gold. “I didn’t know about these markings, did you?”

“No” crap, she was staring at his dumb mouth as he turned the object over in his hands. “Maybe they were carved in later.”

“Probably. Probably something the women did at temple” Ben turned to look at her and his hand came up to swipe at her cheeks.

“It’s going to be fine” he said as she sniffled. “You know that.”

It didn’t feel like it was going to be fine. Ben swiped again.

“It is going to be fine, Leslie. ”

“I just can’t believe I found it. That it’s here and we’re holding it. People haven’t looked at this for thousands of years and now we are, and if we get it back home the world will get to see it because of us.”

“Yeah, they will” he set the medallion carefully on the table beside his bed. “Read this stuff later, it’s a long trip. You need some rest.”

Her eyes did feel heavy. Ben was probably right, but she doubted she’d be able to sleep a wink. Ben’s mouth went to her neck and Leslie hissed.

“Ben.”

“I definitely know how to make you sleep” he growled against her ear as he turned her beneath him. He pulled off his shirt swiftly. Leslie started to protest, but his mouth was hot on her breasts as his tongue teased her nipples and it was hard to care about whether this was a good idea or not.

It felt like the best idea she’d had in months at this point.

The boat rocked gently in the waves and the little bed rattled in its frame as she shattered in his arms a few minutes later.

After that, she did sleep.

*****

That had felt...different.

That was not the sex they had at dig sites or in hotel rooms. That was not aggression and stress being taken out on somebody else’s body. That was...comforting.

She’d never felt so small in his arms before. He’d never really noticed how soft her hair was or the little squeak in the back of her throat she made when she fell over the edge. Before it was about him doing something for himself and Leslie doing the same.

This was about them, doing something together.

He kissed her forehead and Leslie’s nose crinkled in her sleep. Ben kissed that too and traced a pattern into her skin. He gave his head a shake and grabbed a towel, heading straight for the shower. He lathered the bodywash on his skin he’d been smelling on Leslie’s moments earlier. Ben’s mind flashed back to things they’d talked about before, moments they’d shared together. He recalled Leslie mentioning she got into archeology because things and people spent so many years being forgotten and she wanted them brought to the surface. She wanted people to remember the history other civilizations were built on.

We stand on the shoulders of giants type stuff.

He smiled when he thought back to the first time she’d yelled at him. He thought of the way her skin had felt beneath his lips the first time he kissed it. Had he ever really kissed her lips? More than brushing their mouths together on the way to doing more?

“Ben?” Fuck, she’d barely slept half an hour. He’d have to tease her about that. The door to the shower opened and Leslie back in her towel and say something about food. Ben tugged lightly on her cotton and her eyes darkened.

“I’ll buy you dinner in a few minutes.”

She started to protest but then shrieked when he dragged her under the stream and tossed the towel back to the floor. She cackled and he burrowed his face into her neck, inhaling sharply. Leslie’s fingers tightened against his back.

“This is a weird, shitty day.”

Leslie carded her fingers through his hair and nodded against him. “Yeah, it really is.”

“But at least you don’t hate me now” he half-teased. Leslie pinched his butt cheek and he yelped, making her cackle again.

As promised, after their shower they dressed back in their grungy clothing and went in search of some food. Ben guided Leslie by the hand to a small table in the corner and she whipped out their respective stacks of documents, eyes narrowed. Ben took a bite of his sandwich.

“Where’s the…”

Leslie shot him a look and his eyes went to the abnormally shaped bulge in her bra.

“They think it was made by a woman” Ben explained as Leslie turned a page. “Set the gems, forged the gold, all of it.”

“I know.”

“Goddess of spring... the emeralds and sapphires could be for the trees and the sea. And it’s small, so it’s definitely made for a woman.”

“I still want to know what those markings are.”

“If we take it to Harvard we can get someone from Linguistics to translate it.”

“Indiana has specialists in Linguistics too, Dr. Wyatt.”

He grinned, pushing an errant curl out of her face. Leslie swatted him away.

“That’s unprofessional.”

“Then what we did in the cabin was  _ very _ unprofessional.”

“That was home, our home for the next…” she checked her watch. “Fourteen hours. This is work.”

“What happened to that guy you were dating? The one who showed up for that conference in the summer.”

Her cheeks colored and somehow that made her even prettier. “Why, are you jealous?”

“No” Ben squared his shoulders. “Just making conversation. Are you still seeing him?”

“Do you care?” Leslie challenged. “Are you still seeing that brunette in the red dress who wasn’t wearing a bra?”

“Now who’s jealous?”

Leslie scowled.

“Cindy Miller, she’s a professor.”

“Yes. Are you still seeing her?”

“Do you care?”

“Not at all” she took out a sketch she had made of the medallion and stared at it so hard Ben was afraid she might pop a blood vessel. He leaned forward a little.

“Uh, hey, when you get this into the lab for analysis...I’d like to be there.”

Her blue eyes turned up to meet his, but her facial expression didn’t change.

“In Indiana.”

“Yes. And maybe I’ll bring my linguistics person.”

“Cindy. Your girlfriend.”

He tried to smile as she went back to whatever she was reading.

*****

They don’t have sex again.

Which, they absolutely should not be because Ben has a girlfriend and Leslie’s still sad about Mark and this whole thing was never healthy to begin with. Plus, Ben was not the enemy anymore and things were a lot more complicated. They lay in their own beds awake but not speaking until the ship docked at 7AM the next morning. Leslie tucked the medallion into her pocket and shouldered her bag as they exited the cabin and made their way to the gangway.

Ben saw them first.

The men in dark suits, waiting at the end of the ramp, pacing along the same line. Ben pushed her behind him and Leslie swallowed a gasp. How did they find them?

Ben pulled the hood of the jacket up, tucking her hair out of view, and lowered his head. Their fingers ended up tangled and they strolled down towards the mainland with their heads down. Ben moved quickly, guiding her through the crowd and steering them around a pillar until the men in black were gone from sight.

And then they took off.

“We need a car” Ben said, steering Leslie around a corner. “How the fuck are we supposed to get a car? We can’t rent one.”

He furrowed his brow as Leslie’s eyes darted around. A white car with a blue hood caught her attention and she flailed and yanked Ben forward, right into the middle of the road. A horn wailed and the taxi slammed on its brakes, gesturing frantically and shouting things at her in Italian. Leslie ignored the comments and climbed into the back, thrusting a ball of Euros at the man.

“Guidare veloce!” She cried. He raised an eyebrow through the rearview mirror.

“Where are you going, bella?”

“Just drive” Ben tapped on the glass. “Out of the city, as quickly as possible.”

“Whatever you say.” He waved his hand at the sky and peeled out into the main road. Leslie exhaled and burrowed her face into Ben’s shoulder, forgetting the professionalism rule.

“We have to call someone.”

“Yeah, we do” his long fingers stroked her hair. “As soon as we stop I’ll call Ron.”

Dr. Swanson, the head of Ben’s department at Harvard. Ben was just going to ring him up like it was nothing and he wasn’t one of the most prestigious archeologists in the country. Then again, she supposed Ben was too.

Suddenly, Ben yanked his arm away.

“Sorry.”

She wanted to say it was okay. She felt bad for telling him off on the ferry. Who knew where she’d be right now without Ben. He’d helped her escape, made sure she kept the medallion safe and never once suggested they should just give up and turn the artefact over. He knew how important it was to her, to the profession.

“We just need a motel or something” Ben told the driver. “Somewhere quiet.”

Forty minutes later they pull into a small hotel parking lot just outside the city limits. Ben tipped the cab driver generously and asked him to check them into a room. The cab driver eyed Ben suspiciously, but obliged when Ben dangled another 20 Euro note under his nose. Ten minutes after that they had a room key and Leslie was seated on a paisley bedspread while Ben went to the phone. He dialed collect and rubbed his forehead until Swanson finally answered.

Ben told Ron everything and they talked in low voices for a few brief minutes before Ben hung up again. He settled on the mattress with a yawn.

“We’ll sleep for a few hours and then head to the airport. Ron’s going to make some calls and see what the hell is happening.”

“Does he have any idea who it could be?”

“No.” Ben clawed at his cheek. “But some of those collectors can get pretty intense, and well…”

“Pretty intense is an understatement.”

Ben murmured his agreement and rolled onto his side. “Are you hungry?” 

“No” she should be, but she was not. “Let’s get some rest.” It felt like she hadn’t slept in years. 

Ben murmured “night” even though it was almost 10AM now. Leslie let her eyes slip shut too, not even bothering to crawl under the covers.

*****

Glass shattered overhead and Ben yelped as Leslie’s small hand dragged him from sleep and pulled him to the floor with her.

“Good lord, how the hell are they doing this?”

“I DON’T KNOW BEN!” Leslie whimpered, clawing for her bag. Another bullet was fired, this one zooming straight into the wall.

“Dr. Wyatt” a clear voice called through the open window. They were close, very close. “You are an intelligent man. No possession is worth this.”

“WE’RE NOT HANDING OVER ANYTHING!” Leslie snarled. “THIS BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!”

An item was tossed through the open window and thick, acrid smoke started to flood the air around them. Leslie yelped and reached for Ben, who pushed her to the floor.

“Stay low” he murmured as they both crawled along the ground. They had barely made it to the door when it was flung open. Ben’s eyes were burning too much to make out more than an outline, but he did hear Leslie scream as she was dragged away from him.

“NO!” She cried out. “NO! PUT ME DOWN!”

Her screams grew further away and Ben jumped up, launching himself at the nearest body. Someone grunted, but another pair of arms wrapped Ben’s hands behind his back. He shouted at whoever to leave Leslie alone, but something heavy hit the back of his skull.

And then there was only blackness.

*****

Cold water on his face was what jolted Ben back to consciousness. He was in a small room, sitting in a wooden chair with his arms tied behind his back. There was a shelf in one corner, stacked neatly with books, and a small desk in the opposite one. Ben turned and took in the two men in front of him. One was tall with black hair cropped neatly to his skull, the other was fair and small, even smaller than Ben. They both were wearing black suits.

“Where is it?” One barked. Ben raised an eyebrow. Surely they’d searched Leslie by now.

“Where’s what?” 

“Persephone’s Medallion, don’t play dumb, Wyatt. We know you stashed it.”

Ben ignored their question.

“Where’s Leslie?” he moved his hands, trying to jiggle the ropes loose. They didn’t budge.

“She’s here. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not telling you anything until I see Leslie.” Ben spat.  The short man shot the tall man a look, who delivered a heavy fist to Ben’s gut. Ben doubled over, his shoulders straining in their sockets. The man hit him again and Ben groaned, the bump on the back of his head starting to throb as his stomach muscles contracted sharply.

“Where’s the medallion, Wyatt?”

Ben spat at their feet like he actually was Indiana Jones.

“Go to hell.”

*****

“Who are you?” Leslie repeated for the seventeenth time. The man in front of her wearing black gloves shrugged. He seemed average height, not much taller than Ben if she had to guess.

Where was Ben? She’d heard him calling after her in the motel room, but hadn’t seen any indication of him since.

“My client is an interested party. They would like your artefact.”

“Well, you can tell your punk-ass client that I hope a raccoon claws off their faces and they’re never getting that artefact.”

“Ms. Knope - ”

“Doctor.”

The man snorted. “Dr. Knope, tell us where the artefact is hidden.”

“I’d rather move to Eagleton.”

The man didn’t seem to get the point, but he did continue.

“Does Wyatt know where the artefact is?” 

“Ben knows nothing! You leave him alone! You’re just a jerk!”

“So, theoretically if he died, it wouldn’t matter.”

Leslie’s pulse started to race and a cold sweat overcame her. She felt dizzy. “What? No! You can’t...don’t you dare hurt him!”

Cold metal pressed to the side of her neck and Leslie gulped down a whimper.

“Tell me where the artefact is…”

The door to the room Leslie was in swung open and a short, blonde man appeared. He sized up Leslie.

“Wyatt cracked.”

“She said he didn’t know where she stashed it” the man gestured at Leslie with the gun he’d been holding.

“Well, he just told me where they stashed it. He said they did it before they got to the motel.”

_ Ben was lying  _ Leslie’s heart fluttered. Did he have a plan? What was his plan? Oh god, she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for being a jerk and she respects him as a colleague. She wanted to tell him she couldn’t have gotten this far without him and his company over the last few days had been the only thing keeping her calm. Now that he was out of sight all she wanted was to be around him again.

“Bring her too; we’ll sort this all out once and for all.”

Leslie yelped as she was cut from her binds and dragged out the door.

Seeing Ben was like being hit by a truck. His face was bloody, there was a cut by his eye and he seemed to stumble as he walked. Leslie tried to run up to him but they held her back. She started shouting, but the blonde man smacked her across the face.

That made Ben come to life. He growled at them to leave her alone as they were dragged to a parking garage and shoved into the backseat together. Their hands were tied, but their thighs bumped each other’s.

“Ben” Leslie whispered, only to be told to shut up. She shot him a pleading look and Ben smiled, lopsidedly.

“Trust me” he mouthed and her stomach sank like a stone. Those were famous last words if she’d ever heard them.

“We didn’t realize you guys were so close” The driver called back. “All it took was a little threat of maiming you to make him crack.”

Ben lowered his eyes and said nothing. Leslie rested her head on his shoulder.

They might be about to die, what was the point in keeping up appearances? Maybe they wouldn’t be killed when these goons realized Ben had no idea where the medallion was, but after, when they threatened to kill him and Leslie couldn’t take it anymore. She would crack for him because she cared about him too, it would seem. Enough to try and jiggle her ropes loose.

If they got out of this she would have a lot to talk to Ann about.  

*****

He wondered where Leslie had put it.

He was glad she’d had enough common sense to stash it somewhere, but he was really curious where she’d made it to without a car in the time he remained sleeping. He dropped his lips to Leslie’s ear and pressed lightly as they pulled into the parking lot of the old church Ben had named. It was the only location he remembered passing on the road and thought it might be their best chance for escape.

They would have to go straight to Ron. Ron would have a private plane meet them in Rome, they would just have to get there undetected. Once they were stateside things would at least start to work in their favor.

Assuming they made it stateside.

They were dragged from the car with impressive force. Leslie fell to the ground and Ben spun back to face her, but she was already being pulled to her feet. The short blonde man made a point to feel her up as he dusted her off and Leslie looked away, eyes watery. Ben wasn’t sure if the tears were due to the inappropriate touching or the sheer magnitude of the situation, but they definitely made Ben’s heart twist.

Leslie was shuffled behind him and Ben did his best to walk purposefully through the front doors of the church. He knew there would be a basement somewhere, it was just finding it without looking like he had no idea what he was doing that would be the problem.

Ben was pretty sure Leslie had stopped breathing behind him.

“It’s this way” Leslie cried out when they passed a door Ben had missed. She had obviously figured out what he was trying to get at. Ben had no idea what the plan was when they got to the basement, but Leslie’s ropes grew looser with every passing moment and no one seemed to have noticed yet. They descended down a narrow staircase, Leslie’s breath hot on the back of his neck. It reminded Ben of the way she slept, always burning to the touch even when she said she felt chilly.

Leslie cut in front of him and led them in and out of a few narrow corridors. He had no idea what her game plan was now that she’d figured out his, but she obviously had one. Leslie took another sharp turn and the tall guy smashed into Ben’s back.

“Watch it” he snapped at Leslie. She ignored him.

“It’s just a little further” she explained, sensing they were reaching the back of the church. Ben saw it at the same time she did. A small vein of light filtered into the darkness, and when Ben glanced to see the source he found the second door. Leslie’s small body trembled in front of him.

They took another sharp turn and moved into the darkest part of the church.

And then she shouted “NOW!” the exact way she had in the police station.

Leslie ripped her hands free and kneed the short blonde in the groin as tall brunette jumped onto Ben. The medium sized man leapt towards Leslie and she smashed the heel of her palm into his face, causing a loud  _ crack  _ to echo through the cavernous room. Ben’s hands were still tied, but he managed to wrestle the tall man to the ground long enough for Leslie to hit him over the head with something heavy.

She was breathing hard, blood speckling her face as she undid Ben’s wrists and ushered him towards the door, just as the blonde man got to his knees. He swayed precariously and then slumped over again.

They were slow thanks to Ben, and even his normally sharp memory wasn’t enough to navigate through the corridors that all looked the same. More than once they reached a dead end. The thundering footsteps behind them grew closer with every passing second.

Ben tripped over something on the floor and smashed his knee into the concrete. He cried out and Leslie ran to him as he struggled to pull himself upright.

“Go” he glanced over his shoulder as he heard the voice of the leader calling to the blonde man. “I’ll hold them off.”

“Ben!” Leslie shoved him without any real oomph. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to go and get the medallion and get to Ron.”

“I’m not  _ leaving you _ , Ben. We’re in this together.”

“Exactly” he pulled her closer. “And I’m helping you. You have to run, before they see where you’re going.”

“Ben - ”

“You have to trust me.”

A strangled sob escaped her throat. “I can’t leave you!”

“You can. You don’t even like me that much.” He pushed her forward with a little grin. “Go, please. The medallion is more important than me.”

“It’s not” she cried out. “It’s not, I’ll give it to them! I’ll tell them where it is and maybe they’ll let us - ”

“They won’t.”

Leslie whimpered as the footsteps grew even louder. They had seconds, maybe less.

“Leslie, go.”

“Ben - ”

“Go, now!” he shoved her forward and she squeaked, but obeyed. Leslie cast him one final look as she took off into the darkness.

Ben turned to face the onslaught with his fists balled.

*****

It took Leslie two days to reach Boston.

On the side of the road she managed to stop a passing car that agreed to drive her to the motel. She found where she’d stashed the medallion (taped to the back of a coffee machine) and collected hers and Ben’s things while fighting back tears. Had they killed him? Would they hold him hostage and send pieces of his body to Ron in the mail until the medallion was given up? She should call INTERPOL. Actually, Ron had probably already done that. It was finding them that would be the the problem.

She landed in Rome the following afternoon and an INTERPOL agent ushered Leslie through the airport to a private plane. After she was satisfied with his credentials she vomited out everything she could, every detail of the men and what had happened from that first moment they’d arrived at Mycenae.

“And where is Dr. Wyatt now?” the agent asked in a thick, French accent. Leslie stifled a sob and told him everything she could remember before she was handed a tissue.

“All this for an old piece of jewelry” the man sighed dramatically and Leslie wanted to smack him. How dare he marginalize their cause and why they’d done what they’d done. If Ben had been killed how dare they make it seem like his sacrifice was pointless. This was about history and preserving it. This was bigger than any of them.

The best news Leslie received was that everyone else at the dig site was fine and had been returned home safely.

At one point she called the INTERPOL agent a condescending jerk, drained a glass of scotch and slept deeply for the first time in days.

When she landed at Logan a black car was there to meet her. She slipped and slid across the smooth leather and thought about the medallion. She thought about the women at temple coming to worship it, forging it themselves and keeping it as something sacred between them. It was important.

She knew that, and Ben had known that.

“This is quite the finding, Dr. Knope” Dr. Swanson declared when Leslie was finally seated across his desk. It was made of heavy oak and he told her he’d carved it himself when she studied it intently. “You’re sure you want to donate this to Harvard?”

Leslie nodded, the back of her throat tight as she twisted the belt of her coat in her hands. Ben would want that, more people would see it and see what he did and she’d still get recognition. The medallion lay in the middle of the table and the sapphires seemed to stare back at Leslie like they were watching her.

Ron had heard the whole story before she’d even removed the medallion from her coat. He’d said they were still looking for Dr. Wyatt, but their hopes were not high.

She hated this goddamn medallion now. She wished she’d never unearthed the stupid thing. She wished it had remained buried for a thousand more years and she’d told Ben he was a great archeologist and a good person and she enjoyed his company, even when she was yelling at him.

Then he might be here now.

“That is very generous…”

“Ben would want that” Leslie choked out. She had no idea what to do next. She never wanted to go on another dig again.

“I have Cindy Miller from linguistics coming up to examine the markings. I assume you’d like to be present for the analysis.”

“I would” she nodded abruptly.

“Where exactly in Mycenae did you find it…”

Ron trailed off as the door swung open. Leslie turned to greet Cindy Miller.

Except, it was not Cindy Miller.

Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw him. His clothes were ripped in several places and he was empty handed, but it was definitely -

“Sorry I’m late” Ben strolled up to the desk and stuck his hand out to Ron like Leslie hadn’t left him in the basement of a church in Italy with three people coming at them. “You know how traffic is getting out of the city.”

He glanced down at Leslie, face neutral. There were stitches shining on the side of his temple and her stomach lurched. “Dr. Knope, nice to see you  - ”

Leslie leapt to her feet and kissed Ben hard, tongue pressing against his as their arms circled around each other. Ben carded his fingers through her hair and murmured something against her lips, but she was too wrapped up to make sense of any of it. Ron cleared his throat after a few seconds and they pulled back. Ben’s eyes were wide, but he was still holding her face in his hands. He smiled instead of smirked, brushing his fingers across her cheek tenderly. Leslie sat back down first, legs shaking. Ben joined her and turned to face Ron again.

“So” Ben pressed his lips together in a firm line to mask the grin that was threatening to spread over them.

“What did I miss?”


End file.
